1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an impact member for a saddle-type vehicle having a front wheel provided on a body frame, and to a vehicle incorporating the impact member. More particularly, the present invention relates to a saddle-type vehicle wherein an impact member is disposed in front of a lower portion of the engine, which includes a support part which extends forwards from the engine, and a load-receiving deflector plate mounted to the support part and which is inclined away from a vehicle width direction.
2. Description of the Background Art
A motorcycle design is known in which a front wheel is provided on a body frame and a front part of the body frame, which is located behind the front wheel, is formed in a bow-like shape (similar to the shape of a bow of a boat; see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-264866 (JP '866)).
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) from JP '866 are reproduced herein as FIGS. 12A and 12B of the present drawings, in which the original reference numerals from JP '866 have been modified by adding 200 to each of the original numbers.
FIG. 12A is a simplified top plan view of a portion of a prior art motorcycle frame, front fork and wheel, with the motorcycle shown beginning to collide with an obstruction M; and FIG. 12B is a simplified top plan view of the prior art motorcycle frame, front fork and wheel of FIG. 12A, with the motorcycle shown after collision with the obstruction M.
Referring now to FIGS. 12A and 12B, it will be seen that in the prior art design of JP '866, a front wheel 217 is mounted to a body frame 211 through a front fork 216, and a bow 211a is provided by forming a front portion of the body frame 211, which is located behind the front wheel 217, into an asymmetrical bow-like shape similar to the shape of a bow of a boat. In the design of this reference, the bow portion 211a of the body frame 211 is not centered, but is offset from a longitudinal center line of the frame 211 in order to deflect the wheel 217 in a planned way, in an event of an accident. When a large load is applied to the front wheel 217, such as by the front wheel colliding with an obstacle such as a wall M in a manner such that the front wheel 217 is deformed and pushed into the front portion of the body frame 211, the front wheel 217 is deflected or diverted away from the body frame 211 by the bow 211a, thereby allowing for a sufficient deformation of the front fork 216.
In the invention according to JP '866, however, the front portion 211a of the frame 211, which is located behind the front wheel 217, must be formed in a bow-like shape during manufacture thereof. Depending on the structure of the vehicle, it may be difficult, expensive, and/or time consuming to form the body frame 211 into the required bow-like shape.